Ewa Nikola Swoboda (Polish pronunciation: [ˈɛva ɲiˈkɔla sfɔˈbɔda]; born 26 July 1997)[2] is a Polish track and field sprinter who specialises in the short sprints. She is a World Indoor Championships silver medallist, two-time European Championships silver medallist, European Indoor Championships gold and two-time silver medallist, and European Games gold and silver medallist. Swoboda is a two-time Olympian and competed at the 2016 and 2024 Summer Olympics.

Ewa Swoboda
Swoboda at the 2016 indoor Pedro's Cup
Swoboda at the 2016 indoor Pedro's Cup
Personal information
Full nameEwa Nikola Swoboda
Born (1997-07-26) July 26, 1997 (age 27)
Żory, Poland
Height1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight55 kg (121 lb)
Sport
CountryPoland
SportTrack and field
EventSprint
ClubAZS AWF Katowice, formerly UKS Czwórka Żory[1]
Coached byIwona Krupa
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Poland
World Indoor Championships
Silver medal – second place 2024 Glasgow 60 m
European Championships
Silver medal – second place 2022 Munich 4×100 m relay
Silver medal – second place 2024 Rome 100 m
European Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Glasgow 60 m
Silver medal – second place 2017 Belgrade 60 m
Silver medal – second place 2023 Istanbul 60 m
European Games
Gold medal – first place 2023 Kraków–Małopolska 100 m
Silver medal – second place 2023 Kraków–Małopolska 4×100 m relay
European U23 Championships
Gold medal – first place 2017 Bydgoszcz 100 m
Gold medal – first place 2019 Gävle 100 m
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Gävle 4x100 m relay
World Junior Championships
Silver medal – second place 2016 Bydgoszcz 100 m
European Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2015 Eskilstuna 100 m
Silver medal – second place 2015 Eskilstuna 4x100 m relay

Swoboda is also a two-time European U23 champion, World Junior Championships silver medallist and European junior champion. At age 17, she was a finalist in the 60 metres in her senior debut at the 2015 European Indoor Championships and won the gold medal in the 100 metres at the 2015 European Junior Championships, before taking the silver medal at the 2016 World Junior Championships in the same event. She won the 100 metres event at the European U23 Championships in 2017 and 2019. Swoboda holds the world junior record of 7.07 seconds and the Polish record of 6.98 seconds in the 60 metres.[3] She is a multiple medallist of national outdoor and indoor championships.

Life and career

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Career beginnings

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Swoboda started competing in athletics from a young age and after joining the UKS Czwórka Żory athletics club, she began training under her coach Iwona Krupa. She won the Polish youth titles in the 100 metres in 2011 and 2012. The following year she won the national indoor junior 200 metres race.[4]

Her international debut came at the 2013 World Youth Championships in Athletics where she placed fourth in the girls' 100 m with a run of 11.61 seconds; finishing as the best European in the race.[5] Following the event, she ran a personal best and set a new Polish junior record of 11.54 seconds in the 100 m at the Polish Youth Olympic Days, where she completed a sprint double.[6]

At the start of 2014, Swoboda claimed the Polish indoor junior title in the 60 metres.[4] Outdoors, at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics she was fifth in the 100 m, and failed to finish in the 200 m.[7] At the European Youth Olympic Trials in Baku, she won the 100 m and was runner-up in the 200 m.[4] Swoboda was one of the favourites for the 2014 Youth Olympics in the girls' 100 m, where she ran a new best of 11.30 seconds in her opening race – making her the second fastest junior athlete that year.[8] However, she was disqualified in the 100 m final for a false start in the midst of crowd noise.[2][9]

Senior career

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Swoboda won her first senior national title at the 2015 Polish Indoor Championships and she also set a 60 metres European junior record of 7.21 seconds during the competition, which was also a world best for a seventeen-year-old.[10][11] This gained her selection for the 2015 European Athletics Indoor Championships – her first senior appearance for Poland. Still aged seventeen, she made the final of the 60 m and ran another personal best of 7.20 seconds, improving her European junior record by 0.01 seconds. This was the joint fastest time achieved by a Polish woman in the competition's history – matching that of Irena Szewińska and Daria Korczyńska (both of whom were medallists).[12] Swoboda competed in the 100 metres event at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where she reached the semifinals.

In March 2018 it was announced that Swoboda would be upgraded to silver medalist at the 2017 European Indoor Championship, after Ukraine's Olesya Povh's was disqualified for the use of unauthorized substances.[13]

She was unable to participate at the 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Toruń after testing positive to COVID-19 shortly before the start of the championships.[14] Swoboda also did not compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics due to injury.[15]

On 11 February 2022, she broke the Polish national record in the 60 meters twice at the Orlen Cup meeting in Łódź and set a new one by achieving 7.00 seconds.[16] On 5 March, she broke the record again at the Polish Indoor Championships in Toruń with a time of 6.99 seconds, which was the tenth best result in the history of the competition.[17]

She placed fourth at the 2022 World Indoor Championships held in Belgrade in a time of 7.04 seconds. The same time was measured for the fifth and sixth woman while Swoboda lost the bronze medal by 0.002 s.[18]

 
Swoboda at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome

At the Diamond League meeting at the Silesian Stadium in Chorzów on 16 July 2023, she ran her first sub-11 second 100m, as she placed third in a personal best of 10.94 seconds, just 0.01 adrift of Ewa Kasprzyk's Polish national record set in 1986.

At the 2023 World Athletics Championships she claimed sixth place in the Women's 100 metres achieving 10.97 seconds, the fastest result by a European woman.[19]

In March 2024, Swoboda participated in the women's 60 meters at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow. In the semifinals, she improved her personal best record and set a new national record by achieving 6.98 seconds. In the final, she won the silver medal by finishing in a time of 7.00 seconds, thus claiming her first medal at the World Indoor Championships event.[20][21]

In June 2024, Swoboda won silver medal in the women's 100 meters event at the European Championships in Rome by achieving 11.03 seconds losing only to Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain.[22] At the 2024 Summer Olympics, she reached the semifinals in the 100 meters event, but failed to make the final after falling short of 0.01 seconds to qualify.[23]

Personal life

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She was in a relationship with Polish shot putter Konrad Bukowiecki.[24] As of 2023, she was in a relationship with Polish athlete Krzysztof Kiljan.[24] In one of interviews, she admitted that in the past she was the target of hate speech and at one point started thinking about quitting the sport.[25] She is a tattoo enthusiast. Her tattoos include a rose, cat and an inscription "Mom and dad, I love you" written in English.[26]

Achievements

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Personal bests

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Indoor

International competitions

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Swoboda won the gold medal in the 60 m at the 2019 European Indoor Championships in Glasgow; Dafne Schippers (L), Asha Philip (R)
 
Ewa Swodoba at the ISTAF Berlin in 2019
 
Swoboda at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in 2023
Representing   Poland
Year Competition Venue Position Event Result Notes
2013 World Youth Championships Donetsk, Ukraine 4th 100 m 11.61
2014 World Junior Championships Eugene, OR, United States 5th 100 m 11.59 (-1.0 m/s)
200 m DNF
4 × 100 m relay DNF
Youth Olympics Nanjing, China 100 m DQ False start
(h NU18R)
2015 European Indoor Championships Prague, Czech Republic 8th 60 m 7.20 AU20R
European Team Championships, Super League Cheboksary, Russia 3rd 100 m 11.48
4th 4 x 100 m relay 43.28
European Junior Championships Eskilstuna, Sweden 1st 100 m 11.52
2nd 4 x 100 m relay 45.28
2016 European Championships Amsterdam, Netherlands 7th 4 x 100 m relay 43.24
World Junior Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 2nd 100 m 11.12 NU20R
4th 4 x 100 m relay 44.81
Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 15th (sf) 100 m 11.18
13th (h) 4 x 100 m relay 43.33
2017 European Indoor Championships Belgrade, Serbia 2nd 60 m 7.10 SB
European Team Championships, Super League Lille, France 100 m DQ
2nd 4 x 100 m relay 43.07
European U23 Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 1st 100 m 11.42
4th 4 x 100 m relay 44.21
World Championships London, United Kingdom 24th (sf) 100 m 11.35
2018 World Indoor Championships Birmingham, United Kingdom 16th (sf) 60 m 7.25
European Championships Berlin, Germany 11th (sf) 100 m 11.30
6th 4 × 100 m relay 43.34
2019 European Indoor Championships Glasgow, Scotland 1st 60 m 7.09
World Relays Yokohama, Japan 4 × 100 m relay DNF
European U23 Championships Gävle, Sweden 1st 100 m 11.15 SB
3rd 4 × 100 m relay 44.08 SB
European Team Championships, Super League Bydgoszcz, Poland 3rd 100 m 11.35
6th 4 × 100 m relay 44.23
World Championships Doha, Qatar 16th (sf) 100 m 11.27
2022 World Indoor Championships Belgrade, Serbia 4th 60 m 7.04
World Championships Eugene, OR, United States 12th (sf) 100 m 11.08
11th (h) 4 × 100 m relay 43.19
European Championships Munich, Germany 4th 100 m 11.18
2nd 4 × 100 m relay 42.61 NR
2023 European Indoor Championships Istanbul, Turkey 2nd 60 m 7.09 =SB
World Championships Budapest, Hungary 6th 100 m 10.97
5th 4 × 100 m relay 42.66
2024 World Indoor Championships Glasgow, United Kingdom 2nd 60 m 7.00
European Championships Rome, Italy 2nd 100 m 11.03
8th (h) 4 × 100 m relay 43.151
Olympic Games Paris, France 9th (sf) 100 m 11.08
12th (h) 4 × 100 m relay 42.86

1Did not finish in the final

National titles

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Honours and accolades

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  • Medal of the 100th Anniversary of Regaining Independence (2019)[27]
  • Barbie Role Model doll created by Mattel (2024)[28]

References

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  1. ^ "Swoboda zmienia barwy. Jej trenerka też".
  2. ^ a b SWOBODA Ewa Nikola Archived 14 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Nanjing2014. Retrieved on 11 March 2015.
  3. ^ "Glasgow 2024. Ewa Swoboda wicemistrzynią świata! Historyczny sukces Polki". polskieradio.pl (in Polish). 2 March 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Ewa Swoboda. Domtel Sport. Retrieved on 11 March 2015.
  5. ^ Westbrook upsets the odds in the girls' 100m. IAAF (11 July 2013). Retrieved on 11 March 2015.
  6. ^ Ogólnopolska Olimpiada Młodzieży - medaliści (in Polish). Bieganie (29 July 2013). Retrieved on 11 March 2015.
  7. ^ Ewa Swoboda Honours. IAAF. Retrieved on 11 March 2015.
  8. ^ Landells, Steve (21 August 2014). Chepngetich, Halasz, Sebsibe and Swoboda continue their Youth Olympic Games gold medal quest. IAAF. Retrieved on 11 March 2015.
  9. ^ Landells, Steve (23 August 2014). Hyde sets 110m hurdles world youth best at Youth Olympic games. IAAF. Retrieved on 11 March 2015.
  10. ^ Swoboda soars into European history. European Athletics (23 February 2015). Retrieved on 11 March 2015.
  11. ^ Mulkeen, Jon (21 February 2015). Licwinko, Bascou and Storl shine on first day of national indoor champs. IAAF. Retrieved on 11 March 2015.
  12. ^ Petruczenko, Maciej (10 March 2015). Osiemnaście mieć lat to nie grzech Archived 3 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Przeglad Sportowy. Retrieved on 11 March 2015.
  13. ^ "Swoboda wicemistrzynią Europy!". polsatsport.pl. Polsat Sport. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  14. ^ "Ewa Swoboda zakażona koronawirusem. Nie wystartuje na HME w Toruniu" (in Polish). Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  15. ^ "Swoboda speeds to world-leading 7.00 over 60m in Lodz". World Athletics. 11 February 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  16. ^ "Swoboda rockets to 7.00 60m clocking on her comeback race in Lodz". European Athletics. 11 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  17. ^ "Ewa Swoboda flashes to 6.99 at 2022 Polish Indoor Championships". Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  18. ^ Crumley, Euan (18 March 2022). "Special run means the world to Kambundji". AW. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  19. ^ "Sukces poprzedzony łazmi. Ewa Swoboda w finale biegu na 100 metrów [WIDEO]". pap.pl (in Polish). 22 August 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  20. ^ "Alfred makes history for St Lucia". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  21. ^ "Glasgow 2024. Ewa Swoboda wicemistrzynią świata! Historyczny sukces Polki". polskieradio.pl (in Polish). 2 March 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  22. ^ "European Athletics Championships 2024: Dina Asher-Smith claims 100m gold". sportstar.thehindu.com. 10 June 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  23. ^ Maciej Skorupa (4 August 2024). "Tak wyglądał dramat Ewy Swobody. Najmniejsza możliwa różnica [WIDEO]". onet.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  24. ^ a b "Kamera ich "przyłapała". "Obiecałam sobie, że już nigdy nie chcę mieć chłopaka-sportowca"". wp.pl (in Polish). 4 March 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  25. ^ Karol Sowa (4 March 2024). "Od niedawna jest w związku, lecz na drodze do jej szczęścia stoi... stalker. Ewa Swoboda konsekwentnie walczy z prześladowcą". viva.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  26. ^ Marta Kawczyńska (23 August 2023). "Miłośniczka tatuaży i zdrowego jedzenia. Jaka prywatnie jest Ewa Swoboda?". dziennik.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  27. ^ "Premier Mateusz Morawiecki: Dziękuję, że jesteście promotorami idei służby ojczyźnie". premier.gov.pl (in Polish). 4 March 2019. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  28. ^ "Ewa Swoboda oraz osiem sportsmenek z całego świata otrzymało tytuł Barbie Role Model i własne lalki". brief.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 22 May 2024.
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